Sunday, April 19, 2020

Could Nickelodeon's 'Clarissa Explains It All' Revival Be Back On?

Back in March 2018 it was revealed that Nickelodeon was planning to reboot its iconic '90s series Clarissa Explains It All, with Melissa Joan Hart, who portrayed the titular character now the matriarch of the family. However, since the initial announcement, a lot has changed at Nickelodeon, including a new president taking charge of the brand, and last winter, Hart - who can currently be heard in Nickelodeon's The Casagrandes - revealed that the reboot had been shelved.


Now, it seems like NickRewind, Nickelodeon's multi-platform destination for the most loved Nick content from the 1990s and beyond, has hinted that the Clarissa Explains It All revival is back on! In a recent post on Facebook, NickRewind posted a video of the show's theme song, captioned: "Wouldn’t it be ~way cool~ if Clarissa Explains It All came back?":


The video was actually posted on Saturday, April 18 - which happens to be Melissa Joan Hart's birthday. So, it could of been posted to celebrate Hart's 44th birthday. But why wouldn't NickRewind add a 'Happy Birthday' message to the post to indicate that? Nickelodeon celebrated Hart's birthday with a special post on Instagram.

Hart has actually been revisiting her Clarissa roots on Instagram lately to keep fans entertained during the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. In a post on April 3, the actor captioned a photo of the Clarissa Explains It All logo, with the 'Explains It All' part crossed out and 'Did Not Mention This' typed underneath. Hart completed the post with the caption: "I apologize for not covering pandemics in my teen years! #clarissaexplainsitall":


However, it turned out that Clarissa did explain this, just not in the same episode!:


Series creator Mitchell Kriegman was also in talks to return to write and executive produce the Clarissa reboot, with Hart executive producing via her Hartbreak Films banner, which she runs with her mother, TV producer Paula Hart.

Although fans were excited about the prospect of Clarissa being revived, the Sabrina the Teenage Witch star has revealed that she’d be interested in getting the Clarissa cast back together for a reunion episode or special, just maybe not a full-on show.

“To go back and do a show can sometimes be really damaging to your career, too. If it’s not done right or it’s not done smart, it can just sabotage… and it’s not necessarily that the fans won’t watch it, but the industry will take notice and then not put you in anything because they think you’re poison, that kind of thing. It can be tricky. So, I don’t think that’s gonna happen for me.”


ALAMY

While sitting on a panel later on during the Christmas Con 2019 convention, Hart revealed a bit more about what the future holds for the Clarissa revival — or sequel series, as some might consider it — and why it might not be such a good thing for the series to return.

Clarissa was something that was talked about for a while. I had a contract with Nickelodeon, they had to give me permission to do my Netflix show [No Good Nick] last year, but I think that’s gone, like water under the bridge, now,” the 43-year-old actress told the Christmas Con 2019 audience. “…I don’t know that I’m that interested in doing it right now because I’ve been directing a lot, and I have other things that I’m producing, and I’m kind of moving forward, instead of looking back.”

Clarissa Explains It All actually already has a sequel in the form of a book titled Things I Can't Explain, written by Mitchell Kriegman, the original creator of Clarissa Explains It All that was published in 2015. The novel follows Clarissa, now in her late 20s, trying to navigate life as an adult: "Her mid-twenties crisis has left her with a whole set of things she can't explain: an ex-boyfriend turned stalker, her parents' divorce, a micro relationship with the cute coffee guy, java addiction, "To-Flue Glue," and then there's Sam. Where's Sam anyway?" reads the synopsis.

The reboot was announced as Nickelodeon is in the midst of reviving some of the network's most popular shows. Rugrats for example, is being rebooted for not only a Nickelodeon TV show, but maybe a CGI/live-action movie as well. Nickelodeon has also brought back Legends of the Hidden Temple, Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life and Invader Zim for new TV movies, Are You Afraid of the Dark? for a miniseries - which was recently renewed for a second - and Double Dare and All That for new series. Nickelodeon is also reimagining Avatar: The Last Airbender as a live-action series for Netflix, and has also formed a new, multi-year output deal with the streamer to produce original animated feature films and television series - based both on the Nickelodeon library of characters as well as all-new IP - for kids and families around the world.

More Nick: Nickelodeon and Paramount to Bring 'Rugrats' Back for the Next Generation of Kids!

Additional sources: E! Online, Google.
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